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      11-22-2017, 02:18 PM   #1
Exclusivs
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Question Low profile floor jacks?

In search of low profile jack able to fit under front bumper of lowered car to center jack point. If impossible.

Thanks in advance

Last edited by Exclusivs; 11-22-2017 at 04:37 PM..
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      11-22-2017, 07:35 PM   #2
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AC Hydraulic makes some really nice low profile floor jacks. They are a bit spendy as I think they are imported (not from China) and of course they've gone up in price over time. I've had mine at least 10 years and they are super reliable even with lots of use.

http://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin/...n=ac+hydraulic
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      11-22-2017, 09:10 PM   #3
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AC is good but expensive. Arcan makes a low profile long reach but I don’t know if it is long enough to go to the center. It is about 1/3 the price and gets good reviews. I have a lift but if I need to jack, I just jack one front side point and that lifts the car enough to fit any jack under the front or sometimes I just jack the two front side points. I have 2 of the $59 1.5 ton HF aluminum jacks and one $79 steel 3 ton Michelin jack. Had them for years.
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      11-22-2017, 09:24 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pbonsalb View Post
AC is good but expensive. Arcan makes a low profile long reach but I don’t know if it is long enough to go to the center. It is about 1/3 the price and gets good reviews. I have a lift but if I need to jack, I just jack one front side point and that lifts the car enough to fit any jack under the front or sometimes I just jack the two front side points. I have 2 of the $59 1.5 ton HF aluminum jacks and one $79 steel 3 ton Michelin jack. Had them for years.
Might be referring to this one that I was just looking at
https://www.northerntool.com/shop/to...SABEgIKZvD_BwE

I'm unsure myself distance from front bumper to center jack point. Anyone want to volunteer and get the measuring tape?
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      11-22-2017, 10:42 PM   #5
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Just get down on the floor and measure. If I had the guess, that arcan is 36” long and the lift arm part maybe 23. It’s tapered at the handle end so maybe it can reach under 24-26”. Just guesstimating.
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      11-23-2017, 12:27 PM   #6
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i have yet to see someone talk about a jack that reaches our center jacking point on this forum. i have also fantasised about this. lol.

if you have two jacks, you can use one to jack up one side, then slide the other jack under the center point....
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      11-23-2017, 09:56 PM   #7
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I bought a 2x10 and cut it up to make a pair of ramps.
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      11-23-2017, 10:28 PM   #8
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I have a lift and still need ramps for my lowered cars. I use a 2x12 cut into 4 pieces to raise the car about 1.75 inches. Might help with jacks also.
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      11-24-2017, 08:57 AM   #9
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Suppose Race Ramps then get to center jack point will work.

Raise rear front there
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      12-28-2017, 01:47 PM   #10
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https://www.floorjackshop.com/the-be...jack-reviewed/

Here's some reviewed. I doubt any of them will reach the distance to the center jack point.
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      12-28-2017, 03:19 PM   #11
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I drove up on boards and used a generic floor jack to reach mine while helping out a fellow M3 Post member a month or so ago in the parking lot. Reached the center point pretty easily and dropped it on a couple jack stands.
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      12-29-2017, 07:52 AM   #12
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I haven't found a jack that would fit under there especially if you have a front lip. I just jack it up from the rear one side at a time to get the front stands on then I jack from that center point.

The other way is to get a few boards cut up that you can drive on to give you enough height to reach that center point.
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      12-29-2017, 10:40 AM   #13
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I would either drive up onto a couple of 2x12 — buy a 6 footer and cut at a 45 degree angle to make a ramp onto the plank. Or buy a 12 footer and cut into 4 for all wheels — I have this for my lift. Or use 2 jacks - one to lift a front side to make space to get the other under the middle. Or just jack both front sides.
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      12-30-2017, 11:55 AM   #14
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Ditto, I drive onto 2x12 planks which allows me to get a pittsburg low profile jack to the center point.

Quote:
Originally Posted by White 13 View Post
I bought a 2x10 and cut it up to make a pair of ramps.
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      01-09-2018, 08:19 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by M43S7RO View Post
Ditto, I drive onto 2x12 planks which allows me to get a pittsburg low profile jack to the center point.
I'm still searching for the right floor jack to buy...

Guess the Pittsburg low pro works, im hesitant to go anything HF though?

Suntex has a pretty low pro 2 ton - will have to find some work around....

AC Hydraulic ... amazingly nice. Hefty price tag
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      01-10-2018, 09:21 PM   #16
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I will post a pic on the weekend. I bought a low profile jack from NA and had it shipped to Australia. It will easily slip under the front of the car to reach the jack pad. The only issue is when the rear of the car is on ramps. Then the jack doesn't slip under the nose. Then I slip it behind the front wheel to reach the jack pad. It has served me well over the last 12 years. It's white in colour. I will check the brand and update this post.
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      01-10-2018, 09:26 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aussiem3 View Post
I will post a pic on the weekend. I bought a low profile jack from NA and had it shipped to Australia. It will easily slip under the front of the car to reach the jack pad. The only issue is when the rear of the car is on ramps. Then the jack doesn't slip under the nose. Then I slip it behind the front wheel to reach the jack pad. It has served me well over the last 12 years. It's white in colour. I will check the brand and update this post.
White jack...hm doesn't ring any references in my mind I can think of.
12 years old? Hope you've serviced it well
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      01-10-2018, 10:17 PM   #18
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I use the 3"" trak-jax from race ramps which fit under the lip of my lowered car. I have a Compac jack which I got from Reverse Logic. The Compac is more than long enough to reach the center jack point. It's heavy and not cheap but very high quality. Really solid and trust worthy jack.

https://www.reverselogic.us/jacks---lifts.html
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      01-10-2018, 10:27 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by slicer View Post
I use the 3"" trak-jax from race ramps which fit under the lip of my lowered car. I have a Compac jack which I got from Reverse Logic. The Compac is more than long enough to reach the center jack point. It's heavy and not cheap but very high quality. Really solid and trust worthy jack.

https://www.reverselogic.us/jacks---lifts.html
Any reason you chose over AC Hydraulic?
I specify AC because roughly same price category and almost "gold standard" of floor jacks. Thanks for posting this will have to read more on them.
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      01-11-2018, 06:39 AM   #20
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5 inch frame height on that reverse logic is huge. You have to go on boards or ramps to use it. But if you go on boards, you can use a $59 Harbor Freight 1.5 tin aluminum jack or pretty much whatever jack you want.
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      01-11-2018, 09:26 AM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pbonsalb View Post
5 inch frame height on that reverse logic is huge. You have to go on boards or ramps to use it. But if you go on boards, you can use a $59 Harbor Freight 1.5 tin aluminum jack or pretty much whatever jack you want.
Look more closely. The jack has a 3" saddle height which is the point that needs to get under the car to lift it. I actually remove the rubber pad shown in the picture below to get under my jack point without ramps. I'm not aware of a jack with a lower saddle height. Further, no matter what jack I use (I have had others), I need the race ramps if I want to get to the center jack point. My car has about 3.5" of ground clearance. Please let me know if there is a floor jack in existence that is 3" tall across its whole length. Further - check out the pic below comparing the Compac to a Craftsman jack. I think a frame height of 5" is lower than the Craftsman and most other floor jacks. Lastly, I agree that with ramps you can use almost any jack to lift at the center jack point. In fact, I think I was able to use the craftsman jack in the pic below to lift my car. However, the Compac's extra length allows me to get under the car and still use the entire lever range. Plus it's a lot more sturdy and higher quality. Some might not care about that.

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Last edited by slicer; 01-11-2018 at 09:40 AM..
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      01-11-2018, 09:28 AM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Exclusivs View Post
Any reason you chose over AC Hydraulic?
I specify AC because roughly same price category and almost "gold standard" of floor jacks. Thanks for posting this will have to read more on them.
No reason other than Reverse Logic was a board sponsor at the time. They make jack stands that slide into the OE jack points. No regrets on the Compac jack. The quality is top notch.
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